


Foliage

by orphan_account



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 16:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1825150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven finds herself in a delicate situation, and has to go to Nygel for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foliage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [semele](https://archiveofourown.org/users/semele/gifts).



When Nygel looked up at her with an arched eyebrow, Raven had the distinct sensation of being assessed. Ignoring the pointed stare, Raven greeted her with a terse "Hello," set her tray down, and slid onto the mess hall bench beside Nygel.

"Well, hello to you too, Miss Raven,” Nygel said, scooping a spoonful of green mush off her plate. 

Raven glanced down at her own tray, which bore the same meal that was served every Thursday: a bland cake made of textured vegetable protein next to a soggy pile of steamed kale. The meals on the Ark were carefully planned to deliver the maximum nutrition possible given the limited resources available to the hydroponics group, but they rarely tasted good. It was only on holidays - such as Unity Day - that the chefs were allowed to tap into the limited reserves of salt, oils and spices that remained upon the Ark. The rest of the year, the food was merely functional.

"So, did you bring what I asked for?" Nygel inquired, her voice pitched low. 

Raven bit her lip and ran her eyes over the mess hall before nodding tersely. "Yeah, I did." She reached into her pocket and kept her hand low as she passed the small tube to Nygel. Skincare products were difficult to come by on the Ark, and Raven had inherited a small stash after her mother died. Carla Reyes had been a vain woman, and had traded and sold whatever she could get her hands on to maintain the looks that allowed her to curry favour with the Ark's elite. Ultimately, her looks hadn't been enough to save her, and she'd been floated like so many others before her.

Raven, in part to spite her mother, had no use for these items beyond their trading value, and so she used them as currency whenever she could.

"Good girl," Nygel said, as she looked down at the tube in her hands. "I believe I gave this one to your mother a while ago. Too bad she didn't get a chance to use it."

"Seems not," Raven said, her voice flat. She turned to Nygel and flipped her hair over her shoulder before asking, "Did you bring me what I need?"

Nygel nodded and glanced down at Raven's stomach, then back up to her eyes. "You get yourself in trouble, girl?"

"Nothing I can't get myself out of," Raven said, holding her chin high. "Now are you going to give it to me or not?"

Nigel reached into her pocket and drew out a small, thin package. "You know how to use this?"

"Well, yeah,” Raven said, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. As she said the words, she realized she wasn't so sure after all. She'd never needed a pregnancy test before, and it wasn't exactly the kind of thing that was discussed in sex ed classes. The classes and literature distributed by the Ark's health council were primarily concerned with helping kids understand how not to get pregnant. Unauthorized pregnancies were strictly forbidden - any couple who wished to have a baby were required to apply for permission to do so, a process that involved an extensive interview process to determine if the prospective parents were suitable candidates. Accidental or unauthorized pregnancies carried to term were illegal, and after the baby's birth one or both of the parents were floated to balance the population. Abortion was a considered a better alternative and was one that was endorsed and encouraged by the Council.

Raven hoped it wouldn't come to that. Though she and Finn wouldn't be floated because of their age, the consequences would be severe. Any couple responsible for an unplanned underage pregnancy were jailed in the juvenile delinquent center after the abortion was performed, living in nearly complete isolation until they came of age. Raven wasn't exactly a people person - if she was honest with herself, she preferred working in the interior of an engine to interacting with other humans - but she didn't think that she could bear being separated from Finn, his parents and everyone else that she loved. 

Raven flicked her eyes up to meet Nygel's to find Nygel looking at her consideringly. "Okay, maybe not so much," Raven confessed, because really, what experience did she or any of her friends have with pregnancy tests? She didn't have many girlfriends, and to her knowledge the few that she did have had never gotten pregnant. 

"Okay, honey," Nygel said, her voice pragmatic yet tinged with gentleness that Raven was unused to hearing from her. "Here's what you do. You get yourself on the can and you start peeing. Make sure you unwrap the darned thing before you pee, though. Then, after you've peed a little bit, you put the test strip between your legs and pee on it for about five seconds or so. Then you take it out, put the cap back on the end of it. And if you are pregnant, you'll see two lines at the end of the stick. If you're not pregnant, there's only one line. You got it?"

Raven nodded and forced a grin onto her face as she shoved the plastic package into her pocket. If she could figure out thruster engines, she sure as hell could figure out a stupid pregnancy test. "Got it," she replied. 

"Well, that's good," Nygel replied. "I'm happy to be of service in this difficult time of yours. Just keep in mind, the next time you need something, the price will be higher."

Raven swallowed, her throat dry around the kale she'd been chewing. "Higher?"

"Oh yes, honey. Your mother left you with a legacy beyond those creams of hers." Nygel's eyes flicked up to where a guard was staring at them, his eyebrows drawn together. "Now shut up and eat your dinner," Nygel continued, her voice even. "Don't want any of them getting ideas, especially if you want to keep news of your delicate condition to yourself."

"Yes, ma’am," Raven agreed. She shoved another bite of the tasteless food in her mouth, trying not to dwell upon whatever legacy Nygel thought she had. Whatever it was, Raven was certain it was something that she would be less willing to part with than creams and lotions.

\---

The walk from the mess hall to her quarters lead Raven past the chapel. Often, voices raised in song echoed along the hallway as one approached the chapel, but today there was only silence from within its walls. 

Raven paused outside the chapel's entrance. Her mother had not been a religious woman, and neither was she. The space-faring remnants of humanity who had found themselves marooned almost one hundred years ago were primarily scientists, and there were few among their number then who were believers. A great many of those who had faith had lost it during the dark days that followed the destruction of civilization on earth. Still, religion had found a way, springing up around the hope that one day the Ark's survivors would return to the Earth to walk through verdant forests and breathe fresh air once again.

The confusion that Raven had felt since she realized she'd missed her period churned within her gut, clouding her thoughts. Taking a calming breath, she walked through the entrance to the chapel, hopeful that the peace and solitude of its miniature trees and the view from the expansive window would help calm her nerves. 

She moved to the window and pressed her fingers against the cool glass, watching as the clouds swirled on the planet before her. The fragile blue marble was so beautiful and peaceful that it was hard to believe that a war had once waged there that had all but destroyed the human race. Sadness flared up inside her, and she removed her fingers from the glass to press them against her belly.

Though a deep feeling of panic welled up inside her when she considered the possibility that she might actually be pregnant, she couldn't help but feel a profound sense of loss. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep the baby if she was pregnant; the Ark's laws were clear. Even if the law could somehow be bent to allow her to carry a child to term, she was only seventeen and hadn't the first clue about babies. Most of the time, she went out of her way to avoid them. Raven wasn't even sure she wanted to have children in the first place. Her life was focused on two things: becoming the youngest Zero-G mechanic in a generation, and Finn, who had proved to be a potent distraction to her primary goal. Mostly, she was angry at herself and Finn for not being more careful.

Despite this, she couldn't help but feel preemptively sad about the termination of the pregnancy. If she was pregnant and had the baby, her child would never breathe the Earth's air. If she was pregnant, her child would never run through grass carpeting the wide open plains, or feel the sensation of rain on his or her face. If she was pregnant, it would be aborted, and that would be the end of it. There was no hope for this child, much like there was no hope for her or any of the Ark's inhabitants. They were all doomed to live out their lives in a tin can, and exit this life without ever truly having lived.

"Is something troubling you, child?"

Raven startled at the sound of the voice; she had thought herself alone. She cleared her throat and turned quickly, pasting a smile upon her face when she saw Vera Kane's kindly expression. 

"No," Raven said, unwilling to share her worries. "Just," she paused, tilting her head to the side. "How do you know?"

Vera smiled. "I don't know," she said, her voice serene as she turned to gaze upon the face of the Earth. "I believe. I feel it in my bones. Everything we've done, everything we're doing. We're preparing ourselves to return to the Earth."

Vera moved to the small table in the center of the room, motioning for Raven to follow her. 

"Have you ever looked closely at our trees?" Vera asked. Retrieving a small set of pruning shears, she began snipping at the delicate branches of the bonsai tree in the small container in the middle of the table. "To ensure its health and beauty, it must be carefully cultivated. I prune the crown and the roots, and if I am careful it will take on the shape and beauty of a mature, full-sized tree. Our civilization is like this tree. We are constrained by our environment, and we must make precise adjustments, limiting growth to ensure that our society is a perfect likeness of the Earth That Was, only much smaller in scale. When we return to the Earth, we will plant ourselves in the ground and grow strong, our population blooming across the planet. We will be strong because we have worked so hard to preserve that which made humanity unique and hardy."

Raven nodded. She had observed ceremonies and services in this room many a time, but she had never pondered the significance of the small trees that figured so prominently in The Church's religion. "I think I understand," she said.

Vera smiled at her. "I hope you do, dear." Vera snipped a small shoot off a branch. "I know it must have been difficult losing your mother. I understand the resentment and anger that you must have felt. But please know that I believe that whatever has happened in the past will serve to make us stronger when we return to the Earth. We will survive."

"That'd be nice," Raven said, her words a limp attempt to miror Vera's belief.

Then, Raven's breath caught when Vera grasped Raven's hand in hers and turned to her, pruning shears in hand, her eyes wide and intense. 

"And you will," Vera said, with startling certainty, her hand gripping Raven's so hard that it hurt. Pain flared up in Raven's hand, and she looked down to see Vera's nails pressing into her skin near a smudge of grease. Raven gasped and looked upward again into Vera's eyes, trying to tug away. "You will," Vera said again, and Raven found herself nodding back, bobbing her head up and down frantically.

Vera blinked and released her hand, returning her attention to the tree. 

Raven backed away, wrapping her arms around her abdomen. She could feel the plastic package in her pocket, and ran her hand over it, reassured by its presence. 

"Hey,” Raven said, faking a yawn. "I'm mostly just concerned with getting back to bed right now. I'm real tired."

"You do that, child,” Vera said, utterly absorbed in the act of pruning her tree. "You do that. The Earth knows the names of those it is calling for, and you shall see in the end."

Raven turned and hurried down the corridor to her quarters, careful not to meet the eyes of any of the passersby on her way, lest someone stop her to chat. The encounter with Vera had been disturbing, and she wanted nothing more at the moment than to return to her quarters and get the pregnancy test over and done with, to remove one source of anxiety from her life. Hovering in this vale of horrible uncertainty was making her nervous and irritable, and she figured that knowing whether or not she was pregnant had to be better than living with this ambiguity.

She sighed in relief as the door to her room closed behind her and hurried to her small lavatory to rip open the test, grateful that she had drunk all of her allotted eight ounces of water at dinner time. As she relieved herself, she let her mind flow over all of the possible scenarios. She could be pregnant, and would need to get an abortion, but then she would be jailed; was a fate that almost felt worse than being floated since she wouldn't see Finn. She could be pregnant, and somehow hide her condition and the baby after it was born, and be free to see Finn and his family. She'd heard rumours of women hiding their babies before, but she also knew that it never ended well. The illegal children were always found out in the end, and the parents were floated every time. Up until this point in her life, Raven had gone to great lengths in her illegal dealings to avoid being caught, and she'd be damned if one fuck up with Finn would be what lead her to jail or an airlock.

Or her period could simply be late.

She sighed as she washed her hands, determined not to look at the test strip until she was done. Then she closed the lid of the toilet, sat down upon it, and took the strip between shaking fingers. She looked down.

One line.

One line meant _not pregnant_.

Relief washed over her like a wave, and Raven felt a giggle well up inside her. She let it loose, and the sound echoed within the confines of her tiny lavatory, tinny and hollow. Once the giggles subsided, she took a deep breath, allowing the recycled air into every square inch of her lungs as she stretched her arms above her head. 

_Not pregnant_.

At least, theoretically. She still didn’t know why her period was late, or if it would come at all. She'd read that test strips could give false negative results, and she cursed her lack of foresight for not asking Nygel for more than one strip. 

She had to be sure, and there was be no way to know with one hundred percent certainty whether or not she was pregnant without approaching Nygel again or visiting the medical clinic for an official test. The first option carried the consequence of imprisonment for her - and a trip to the airlock for Nygel - if caught; the second exposed her to the scrutiny and attention of the council. 

Raven bowed her head and put her forehead in her hands. As reassuring as this result was, this ordeal wasn't over, and wouldn't be over until she had conclusive test results or her period came. She closed her eyes and sent a silent plea out to the universe that she was simply late and not pregnant after all. 

Perhaps her period would come tomorrow. It would have to, she decided, as she stood and threw the test strip into the garbage. Then, she wouldn't have to worry about scheduling an abortion. She wouldn't have to be separated from Finn, and she could continue living her life without the burden of the terrible secret fear that she'd been carrying inside her for the past few days. 

She could live her life for herself. She may be one small leaf on a branch of a tiny, pruned tree, but she'd be damned if she was ever going to fall.


End file.
